VideoRay ROV Positioning Systems

Knowing where your VideoRay ROV submersible is, where it was, and where it is going is invaluable information when conducting a critical underwater mission. VideoRay offers two easily operated ROV positioning systems designed specifically for small ROVs.

Positioning an object underwater is typically done with triangulation through acoustic distance and/or direction measurement. However, VideoRay has a unique and exclusive positioning / navigation solution that strays away from the norm of acoustic underwater positioning. The Smart Tether Non-Acoustic tether based positioning and navigation system is a plug and go solution that utilizes nodes embedded in the VideoRay ROV tether. These nodes use acceleration, magnetic, and rate-gyro sensors to measure the orientation and track the position of your vehicle and tether. This data is then transmitted to the control box and displayed on your computer screen in real time.

The other VideoRay ROV positioning solution is a more traditional USBL (Ultra Short Baseline) system. The Tritech MicronNav USBL positioning and navigation system utilizes a USBL transducer array which measures target distance from the transducer pole by using signal run time, and the target direction by measuring the phase shift of the reply signal as seen by the individual elements of the transducer array. The combination of distance and direction fixes the position of the tracked target relative to the surface vessel. With this system a transducer pole is deployed which relates to the small responder / transponder on the VideoRay ROV submersible.